Rating: 
Summary: Wizard and Glass: Stephen King Triumphs Again
Review: Wizard and Glass is, in my opinion, a great Stephen King novel. It says in the afterword that King was nervous about doing a romance novel; something about love being tougher than Horror. I don't buy it. This book was incredibly well-written and even tasteful, a departure from some of King's work, and has some incredibly memorable scenes. Most of it is a flashback to Roland's youth, which explains almost everything from the gunslinger's past that we've been hearing about for three books now. The best scene for me was the standoff between Roland's Ka-Tet and the Big Coffin Hunters, which was so well-written that it made you feel like you were there. All in all, I give it a nine, because Stephen should've let us see more of the 'current' Ka-tet because now he's got Randall Flagg tied up in it and I'm not going to wait that long again to find out what happens ;)!
Rating: 
Summary: Mostly fat, hardly any steak
Review: Imagine a lean, well-told Western that industriously gets up and goes to work on every page. Now imagine that Western quits its job and sits around watching "A Clockwork Orange" for a year, eating Ben and Jerry's and pizza. What would you get? Wizard and Glass. The plot's unncessary and appallingly long. The heroes basically have two jobs -- foil the bad guys and retrieve yummy local chick Susan for Roland -- and they could have accomplished these ends just by going back to Gilead and taking Susan with them in the first hundred pages. But no... The language is appalling, the structure poor (550 page flashbacks don't sit well with me), and the few bits that actually relate to the real story of the series -- viz., the Dark Tower -- are lame -- especially a weak, slapped-together sequence involving the Wizard of Oz. Basically, this book was a waste of time and money for me, and I would recommend, reader, that if you want a long Western with a strong hero, and interesting romance, and a streak of mysticism, you buy Louis L'Amour's _Jubal Sackett_, which is also about a third the price.
Rating:
Summary: Wizard and Glass: a kneebiting spectacle
Review: Imagine a Louis L'Amour Western that wasn't lean and didn't get up and go to work on every page. Instead it sat around eating pizza and ice cream, putting on layers of rolling, superfluous fat, while watching "A Clockwork Orange" for eight or nine years in a row and gradually becoming warped psychologically. That's Wizard and Glass. It's a fairly typical saga of three young kids who, in classic Scooby-Doo fashion, prove to be too meddling for the evil wrongdoers of a small town, with our hero, Roland, cast as the leader of the group. The book has serious flaws -- as others have mentioned, a 500+ page flashback is far too much for a critical reader to swallow without making a face -- but the worst problem of the book is its plot, which is simply unnecessary. Our hero's goals are simple: nibble a tasty morsel named Susan, foil the bad guys, and make it home safe. All of this could have been accomplished had Roland and Company simply returned to Gilead with Susan, reporting their critical spy-type data about the enemy's plans, in the first five chapters. However, King conveniently ignores this simple, tidy solution and leads us through a blubbery whale-intestines maze of a plot for 500 more pages for no apparent reason. Other problems: the girl meets a pointlessly cruel, brutal fate, the language is worse than usual for King, the villains are never satisfactorily repaid (what of Rhea, the worst villain of all?) and certain major characters just vanish with no explanation (Sheemie, for instance). King says in his afterword that 400 pages in he lost all sense of perspective. I agree.Reader, do yourself a favor and skip this in favor of a book with a more rational storyline. If you want an exciting, long Western with a strong hero, an interesting romance, and an interesting subplot featuring mysticism, read L'Amour's Jubal Sackett.
Rating: 
Summary: Evokes a feeling of deep regret at what could have been!
Review: This fourth volume of the Dark Tower series when seen from a literary standpoint is vintage Stephen King. All his classics - Salem's lot, The Stand, The Shining etc - have always been written with these detailed and vivid characterizations resulting in extremely readable but 'bloated' books. The Dark Tower series in my opinion has been ( until Vol 3 ) undoubtedly his best body of work simply for the enormity of detail,vision and speed recorded with such brevity. The first 3 volumes followed a simple principle of greatness of story-telling ; that all need not be revealed in great detail. The readers imagination is quite sufficient for that. Unfortunately in Wizard and Glass, King goes back into his former self and therein reduces the potentially all-time great classic horror/fantasy/philosophy/sci-fi epic to a routine Stephen King story. I weep with regret to see possibly 'the greatest story ever told' reduced to the level of just another tale. A request to King - 'Brevity yet stupendous vision has been the hallmark of this series. Let not commercial/practical reasons destroy true conceptual genius'. Great writing but not fit to enter the DARK TOWER all time great series! :-(
Rating:
Summary: Wondrously Amazing! ~Wizard and Glass~
Review: With this book 'Stephen King' returns to 'Mid-World', and the man driven by his quest to reach the treacherous Dark Tower, 'Roland Deschain'. The book immediately advances into the baronycoach with everyone's favorite host 'Blaine The Mono' asking his favorite question "ASK ME A RIDDLE". And our good friendRoland replying the unforgettable words "Fuc* you.". This book delighted me unlike any 'Stephen King' book before it. Not even 'It' could surpass this books puzzles and mazes. It leaves me in awe, not wanting the book to end. Throughout this book 'Stephen King' shows the true powers of his mind. It blows you away. If you are a frequent reader of the Dark Tower series you're gonna love this book! If you're not then you're gonna love this book anyway! Just be sure to read the last book in this series 'The Dark Tower III -The Waste Lands-' The other two aren't as important but you haveto read the third to understand a lot. The other two would be of some help. This book mainly shows you Roland's past life. Through his becoming of a Gunslinger on through his first love. But not before finishing up with 'Blaine the Pain'. We get this deed done with help of 'Eddie of New York'. His quick wit does the job and 'Blaine' is stopped. Wonderfully I might ad! This man is a genius! "How did the dead baby cross the road? It was stapled to the chicken!" After Blaine Crashing they find themselves in the world of Topeka Kansas, were the path of the beam, that has been leading them to 'The Dark Tower', is gone. They travel through this world finding some frightful things, it not being our actual world, and then find their way to a highway leading to a great black glass building in the distance. On this road Roland tells his friends of his past life. Himself finding his true love 'Susan' and loosing her at the hands of an evil witch called 'Reah'. And also defeating an entire army with the help of his two friends 'Cuthbert' and 'Alain'. This part of the story explains a lot. It amazes me how much depth 'Stephen King' gos into. When his story is done, Roland and his new 'ka'tet' find themselves confronted by the strange black building, now seeming more green in color. They get past the gate with the help of red shoes they find, one pair for each, fitting perfectly, even for 'Oy' and 'Susan'. 'King's' use of 'The Wizard of Oz' is purely genius! It makes you think of all the supposed 'fairy tales' that we know. How many of them could actually be an adaptation that someone made after visiting one of the many worlds. They reach the building and are confronted again by the malevolent wizard 'Marten'. Once he is gone 'but not killed', Roland and his friends look into a piece of the 'Wizard's Rainbow' and see the event were 'Roland' had to kill his mother. This part was a perfect ending. Not even the death of 'Susan' had shocked me this deeply. There they are asked once again to abandon their quest to 'The Dark Tower' all saying no they are back again on the path of the beam that leads to 'The Dark Tower'. This is were the book ends, and this is were the adventure continues. There are no words to say how amazing this book is, how much it draws you into the world of the gunslinger and his 'ka'tet'. All who do not buy this book will be seriously disappointed. 'Stephen King' has done it again. I welcome the next of 'The Dark Tower' series with delight. I bow at the feet of 'Stephen King'. He truly is a king in his own right.
Rating:
Summary: The Dark Tower : Movie ?
Review: This Books would make a fantastic movie for sure. Too bad we cant CLINT EASTWOOD starring as Roland, as Clint is maybe too old by now :) Thanx to Mr. King for this fantastic Story! I WANT PART V !!!
Rating:
Summary: Stephen King has done it again!
Review: Long ago Mr. King promised his readers that there would be another Dark Tower book. After 4 long years the world recived Dark Tower IV : Wizard and Glass.
Once again readers can join Roland and his band
on their quest for the place where all beams connect
the Tower. We will start by joining Roland and company on a wild ride with Blaine the Mono. Then we
will at last hear about Rolands aventure with his friends
when he was 14. This book has a little romance but the gore and bloodshed are bound to keep most female readers away. This book has some dull parts where you may loose hope in the book. But once out of the dull area the book will pick up the pace fast. My rating a 9. It lost a point due to the dull areas but the book is still a winner.
Rating:
Summary: Worth The Wait
Review: We waited what seemed like forever. I even picked up the the other 3 and re-read them so I would be ready when Mr. King finally decided to write the next chapter in this incredible series. I was not disappointed! But surprise, it is a Love story, not the Horror that we are all used to that steals the show in this book. I slowed down the last couple chapters, not wanting this to end and praying I don't have to wait 10 years for the next installment.
Rating:
Summary: Look out! The Superflu is back!
Review: I am a dyed-in-the wool Stephen King fan, and have slogged through every recent tome he has written. When I saw the number of pages of Wizard and Glass I thought wearily, "here we go again!" I was amazed at how fast the pages turned! One of the things I love about his novels is the way there is always a reference to one or more of his other novels in each one. Since The Stand is my favorite, I loved seeing it linked to Wizard and Glass. I just want to know one thing...why are dogs treated so cruelly in all of his novels? Did he get bitten as a child or something?
Rating:
Summary: Wizard and Glass, an excellient addition to Dark Tower
Review: It was great to once again join Roland's Ka'tet on it's quest for the Dark Tower. Five years was far too long await, but it came together like not a day had past, I guess time has really changed as the world moves on...
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